Financial Services

Among the very best performing shares since July, and indeed through reporting season, were financial technology companies such as Iress (ASX:IRE), Praemium (ASX:PPS) and Bravura Solutions (ASX:BVS). Other companies in this space include, HUB24 (ASX:HUB), Netwealth (ASX:NWL) and GBST (ASX:GBT). continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

• save this article
• POSTED IN Companies, Financial Services

With the Financial Services Royal Commission having handed down its draft report at the end of September, three of the four major banks have recently released statements outlining the expected level of near term customer remediation costs. continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Financial Services.

• save this article
• POSTED IN Financial Services

The very well-respected bank team at UBS published a very interesting piece of research today that we believe is well worth taking a look at. The team performs an annual survey of Australians who have taken out a mortgage during the previous 12 months. The survey covers 1008 individuals and is spread both geographically and in loan size, so the findings are statistically significant for the overall population. They have published quite a few different reports looking at the data from different angles, but today’s version is very interesting for the insights it gives into the financial literacy of Australians. continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Editor's Pick, Financial Services, Property.

• 20 Comments
• save this article
• POSTED IN Editor's Pick, Financial Services, Property

What happens when pesky, disruptive upstarts take on the big incumbents in an industry? More often than not, they find themselves in a battle royale over market share. And that’s just what’s happening in the wealth management industry, where Westpac is fighting back against the likes of Netwealth, HUB24 and Praemium. continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Companies, Financial Services.

• 2 Comments
• save this article
• POSTED IN Companies, Financial Services

Westpac (ASX:WBC) has just announced that, come the end of July, it will stop lending to self-managed super funds (SMSFs) looking to invest in property. It will also not allow SMSFs to roll any existing interest only loans onto another interest only period once the existing amortisation free period runs out. What’s prompted this change? continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Editor's Pick, Financial Services.

• 3 Comments
• save this article
• POSTED IN Editor's Pick, Financial Services

It’s hard to ignore the inroads being made by robo advice firms in the wealth management industry. Now, robo advisers could receive a further boost on the back of the upcoming open banking regime. continue…

by Dean Curnow Posted in Financial Services.

• save this article
• POSTED IN Financial Services

Although interest rates remain at historically low levels, we’ve seen a continuing increase in mortgage stress over the past two years. Today, over 30 per cent of owner-occupier borrowing households across Australia are in mortgage stress. And things could get even worse if the major banks raise their rates. continue…

by Andreas Lundberg Posted in Financial Services.

• 3 Comments
• save this article
• POSTED IN Financial Services

While you may not follow movements in the bank bill swap rate (BBSW), right now they are worth paying attention to. You see, rates are on the rise. And that means the funding costs for our major banks are also going up. This could force them to raise mortgage rates – and take mortgage stress to another level. continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Financial Services.

• 8 Comments
• save this article
• POSTED IN Financial Services

In this week’s video insight Stuart discusses why the banks are selling or demerging lower return overseas operations and insurance operations.

continue…

by Stuart Jackson Posted in Financial Services, Video Insights.

• save this article
• POSTED IN Financial Services, Video Insights

Since peaking in March 2015, the share prices of our major banks have been plummeting. I fear there is more bad news ahead with the markets beginning to catch up with factors that will limit the banks’ ability to grow their mortgage books as quickly as they have in recent years. continue…

by Roger Montgomery Posted in Financial Services.

• 5 Comments
• save this article
• POSTED IN Financial Services